Empanadas, Un Temblor, y la Playa

What a weekend. For the first time since Thursday I'm able to take a step back, rest a little, and blog. But that's okay with me, it just means I'm having a blast!

Thursday night, I ended out over to my friend Jesse's house in Nuñoa to go out with her host sister and a bunch of her friends. Here in Chile they use the verb "carretear" to mean going out with friends drinking and dancing. The trip out to Nuñoa itself was an adventure because it involved a metro and a bus, but I got on all of the correct lines and modes of public transportation and met up with everyone and we headed to a "pre" at her older host sister's apartment. Everyone was super nice and super excited to introduce us to "piscolas" (pisco and coke). I was somewhat confused as to where we were actually going out but as usual, I went with flow. Turned out we were going to a concert at a bar in the neighborhood of Bellavista, which is super young and hip. The band, Astro, was amazing and I ended up getting to meet some of them. When the band wasn't playing, the DJ played a variety of 80s and 90s rock and pop, everything from Rock Lobster to M.I.A's Paper Planes. Definitely an interesting mix but for sure a nice break from the endless top 40 at every U.S. bar. This time when I got home I managed to avoid locking myself out and slip quietly inside without waking up Claudia. Success!

New friends!

Astro performing!

 The music video for their song "Ciervos"

After a boring day of class on Friday, the gringos from AU hopped on a bus where I was thankful to finally get some sleep and end up in Tongoy 5 hours later. Carolina's uncle owns this super cute little beach resort with a bunch of different cabañas, a pool, a mini golf course, and within walking distance of the beach. It was great to hang out and bond with my fellow AU students since I didn't really know any of them before I got here. Tongoy was pretty quiet since it's the end of the summer, but that was okay with us. The big nighttime activity of the sleepy beach town was the small amusement park aptly named Parque Americano. The rides were a little rickety for my taste but it was fun to walk around and take in the lights. The highlight of the weekend was certainly these delicious empanadas from a roadside stand. They were fried and delicious and as a group of 13 we consumed over 60 in three days. Impressive.

Parque Americano..super estadounidense no?

Empanadas <3

Also: Saturday morning around 8 AM I awoke to my first ever earthquake, or temblor, as the smaller ones are called here. By the time I realized what it was it was over, but still, pretty cool huh?

I arrived back in Santiago last night to Claudia's welcoming arms. She's so great. Although I'm going through empanada withdrawal, I have a lot to look forward to: Pablo Neruda's house in Santiago tomorrow and then the beach towns of Viña del Mar and Valparariso this weekend.